History Main / PestEpisode

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/BreakingBad https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f3396919a076cb90fa0962af013cdb72_4.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The true villain of ''Breaking Bad''.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The true villain of 'Breaking Bad''.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f3396919a076cb90fa0962af013cdb72_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The true villain of ''Series/BreakingBad''.]]

* ''WebAnimation/RocketAndGroot'': In "It's The Little Things", while Groot is out searching for parts for their ship, Rocket finds that a rat has boarded their ship and makes many attempts to get rid of the rodent which end up causing more damages to the ship. The moment Groot walks back on board carrying a bunch of stuff, the rodent passes out at the site of him, which Groot responds by picking the rat up and throwing him out.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'': In "Pink Pest Control", this overlaps with TermiteTrouble: the Pink Panther tries to stop a termite that is eating all of the wooden objects in his log cabin home. He tries hitting it with an axe, setting a mousetrap (baited with a toothpick) and a flyswatter, but nothing works. The termite finally eats through the log cabin and causes it to collapse. The episode ends with the Pink Panther forcing the termite to help him rebuild it at gunpoint.

See also YouDirtyRat Often lead to RoadrunnerVsCoyote-style hijinks, particularly in settings with a ResourcefulRodent, with a FunnyAnimal cast and substantial FurryConfusion. Contrast AdoringThePests.

[[caption-width-right:350:The true villain of Breaking Bad]]

* ''Creator/{{Terrytoons}}'': The ''Gandy Goose'' cartoon "The Exterminator" has Sourpuss calling the P.D.Q. Exterminating company to help stave off an invasion of mice in his home. They send Gandy, who is none too effective, which is lampshaded at the end: "2,000 years ago, Aesop said 'There are many ways to get rid of mice, but none of them are any good.'"

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': In "An Inspector Calls", a pigeon has gotten into the gymnasium, a problem since Brittas has an inspector coming. The episode is then spent trying to get it out, first using an eagle, than a cat,then a dog, and then a goat.

* ''Series/Charmed1998'': Although it isn't a main part of the episode, Piper spends most of "[Recap/CharmedS4E11TrialByMagic Trial By Magic]]" trying to catch rats in her club. She fails, but then it turns out the rats were actually demons.

* ''Series/{{Charmed}}'': Although it isn't a main part of the episode, Piper spends the episode trying to catch rats in her club. She fails, but then it turns out the rats were actually demons.

See also YouDirtyRat Often lead to RoadrunnerVsCoyote-style hijinks, particularly in settings with FunnyAnimal casts and substantial FurryConfusion. Contrast AdoringThePests.

* On ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', Flecko escapes from Ed Bighead and ends up at Rocko's house. Upon seeing how Rocko didn't squish a ladybug, he invites all the other bugs over.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': In "Sting Operation", a hornet's nest shows up at the entrance to the Central Park Zoo. The hornets sting the Penguins whenever they try to remove it, and they intend to sting the visiting children as well. When the Penguins discover that Mort [[DisabilityImmunity is too stupid to recognize when he is in pain]], they use one of Kowalski's inventions to become ignorant to pain themselves in order to remove the nest.

** "Eek, An Urchin!" is about a sea urchin invading the kitchen in the Krusty Crab and the crew trying to find a way to get it out of the restaurant.

** In an early episode, a herd of nematode worms quite literally eats Spongebob out of house and home. [[spoiler: They do, however, leave behind a seed, which Spongebob mistakes for a pebble, buries it, and cries over it, and from which a brand-new, fully-furnished pineapple house grows.]] Nematodes are later mentioned by a realtor who is helping Squidward sell his house ("Opposite Day"), and it's implied that they are the undersea version of termites.
** In another episode, Spongebob allows a wild jellyfish to follow him home. When Spongebob wants to stop partying with it and go to bed, it invites all the other wild jellyfish in and causes all sorts of problems.

The modern successor of EekAMouse, filling its shoes as a staple of the DomCom, and usually showing up at least once in any given WorkCom. The pest in question is usually either a mouse or TerrifyingPetStoreRat, but substitute other animals as needed, particularly in sci-fi and fantasy settings. Expect the cast to be outsmarted and HoistByTheirOwnPetard at every turn -- {{Mouse Trap}}s may be employed, but will frequently be sworn off as cruel. If and when the characters do finally catch the animal, don't be surprised if WhatMeasureIsANonCute kicks in and they end up keeping it as

%%* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' is wholly based on this trope. Of course Tom the cat never succeeds in catching Jerry the mouse.%%This is more CatchThatPigeon overlapping with RoadrunnerVsCoyote, though individual episodes could still lean more into this.

See also YouDirtyRat and CatchThatPigeon, which often lead to RoadrunnerVsCoyote-style hijinks, particularly in settings with FunnyAnimal casts and substantial FurryConfusion. Contrast AdoringThePests.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

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%% These entries have been alphabetized; please add your examples in alphabetical order.
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* In chapter 46 of ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'', a cockroach shows up in Mikan's apartment which freaks her out. Yuko is accustomed to dealing with vermin and offers to simply catch the roach and toss it out, but Mikan insists she deal with it without touching it. In the end, Momo has Yuko help her with making a simple bug-repelling magical barrier to deal with the roach. Momo has Yuko use her magic to activate it, but Yuko's magic is of such poor quality that it only lasts for several hours, so Momo and Mikan pressure Yuko to make dozens more.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'': Madame Medusa is [[EekAMouse scared of mice]], so she sends her two crocodiles, Brutus and Nero, to catch the Rescuers, Bernard and Bianca, when the pair of [[NiceMice heroic mice]] come aboard Medusa's wrecked boat to rescue kidnapped little girl Penny.

* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode ''Sic Transit Vir'' an insect takes up residence in Londo's quarters. He fights it off with a sword.
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Sheldon (who does not like birds) was trying to get rid of one that was on the ledge of the apartment, which later flew into apartment. He becomes attached to the bird, but it flies away.
* One episode of ''Series/BlackBooks'' has a sub-plot about the bookshop being infested with a strange species of pest which are never named, never appear on-screen and which Bernard and Manny keep killing in increasingly inventive ways. The episode ends with Manny trapping on of the pests in a jug and steaming it to death with a coffee machine, then declaring proudly "I've done it! I got the queen!"
* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', the episode [[Recap/BreakingBadS3E10Fly "Fly"]] is a BottleEpisode all about Walt obsessively trying to catch a fly in a meth lab.

* The ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "[[Recap/FarscapeS02E14BewareOfDog Beware of Dog]]" has the team hear a rumor of parasite infestation in a star system they've stopped in to resupply, and buy a rather detestable goblin-like creature called a vorc to eliminate it. Due to problems with the TranslatorMicrobes they're short on details and, after sighting a monster belowdecks, begin to suspect the whole thing is a scam and the vorc is the actual parasite. [[spoiler:Actually, the parasite cocoons humanoid victims as food for its young and replaces them, while the vorc uses its goblin form to track and transforms into the monstrous form to kill.]]

* One episode of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' has this as its B-plot, with a mouse infesting the kitchen. Dorothy finds herself unable to kill it when she has the chance, and instead asks it to leave... and it does.

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' has an episode where Hal brought home an old wardrobe that is (unbeknownst to him when he bought it) filled with bats; much of the rest of the episode has Hal and the boys chasing bats out of their house and/or trying to kill them, as well as trying to hide from them in a tent inside the house.

* Subverted in the ''Series/NewsRadio'' episode "Rat Funeral", with the cast rushing to save Mike the Rat, their [[AdoringThePests adopted office mascot]], from the traps news director Dave has had set around the station. Dave eventually relents -- only for the snap of a trap to go off in the background. Then double-subverted when it turns out the distinctively black-and-white Mike was not one rat but many, ''many'' similarly colored rats, and WNYX actually has quite the infestation on their hands. Everyone's a little grossed out after that.
* In the ''Series/OpenAllHours'' episode "An Errand Boy by the Ear", Arkwright creates rumours of an epidemic of ferret-rat hybrids, "A frat", in order to sell his overstocked hurricane lamps as "frat detectors".
* The B-plot of a ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode involves the staff trying to deal with an infestation of Cardassian Voles. They start off trying to round them up humanely, but by the end of the episode:

* ''WebAnimation/RocketAndGroot'': In the episode "It's The Little Things", while Groot is out searching for parts for their ship, Rocket finds that a rat has boarded their ship and makes many attempts to get rid of the rodent which ends up causing more damages to the ship. The moment Groot walks back on board carrying a bunch of stuff, the rodent passes out at the site of him, which Groot responds by picking the rat up and throwing him out.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' episode "What's Bugging You" has Tyrone and Uniqua as "pest controllers" trying to rid Tasha's mansion of the wormlike wormans, while trying to keep the "infestation" hidden from [[TheInspectorIsComing an inspection]] by "Mr. Spiffy" (Pablo) -- Tasha won't be able to join the "Spiffy Club" if there are ''worms'' inside. This being ''The Backyardigans'', it's mostly pretend, and the kids are friendly with the wormans in other episodes.
* The '' WesternAnimation/{{Catscratch}}'' episode "Bringing' Down the Mouse" has Waffle trying to catch a mouse to be a part of a mouse-catching brotherhood like Blik and Gordon. He ends up facing a dreaded mouse named Squeakus, who even his brothers are afraid of.

** Some WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse cartoons have him and his dog WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup with a gopher or WesternAnimation/ChipAndDale (who are chipmunks) as a foil. Interestingly, Mickey is also a rodent.
** Some WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoons pit him against the chipmunks WesternAnimation/ChipAndDale.
** Some of those cartoons subvert this by making the chipmunks Chip and Dale the protagonists.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''. WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales and WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck cartoons often involve Daffy Duck trying to evict the mouse Speedy Gonzales from his property, be it a house, hacienda, cornfield, or well.
* Episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E7Bats Bats]]" of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' starts out this way, with the Mane Six dealing with a fruit bat infestation in Sweet Apple Acres.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'' episode "Pink Pest Control", this overlaps with TermiteTrouble: the Pink Panther tries to stop a termite that is eating all of the wooden objects in his log cabin home. He tries hitting it with an axe, setting a mousetrap (baited with a toothpick) and a flyswatter, but nothing works. The termite finally eats through the log cabin and causes it to collapse. The episode ends with the Pink Panther forcing the termite to help him rebuild it at gunpoint.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'', the B-story for Season 1 episode "Don't Leave Home Without It" involves Oscar trying to get rid of a mouse in their home. Instead of paying an exterminator to get rid of the mouse, he and Felix try to do it themselves, but it doesn't end well and they ended up spending more money than what the exterminator offered.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Springfield was getting rid of rats in order to be chosen to host the Olympic Games.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', "Eek, An Urchin!" is an episode about a sea urchin invading the kitchen in the Krusty Crab and the crew trying to find a way to get it out of the restaurant.
** In an early episode, a herd of nematode worms quite literally eat Spongebob out of house and home. [[spoiler: They do, however, leave behind a seed, which Spongebob mistakes for a pebble, buries it, and cries over it, and from which a brand-new, fully-furnished pineapple house grows.]] Nematodes are later mentioned by a realtor who is helping Squidward sell his house ("Opposite Day"), and it's implied that they are the undersea version of termites.
** In another episode, Spongebob allows a wild jellyfish to follow him home. But when Spongebob wants to stop partying with it and go to bed, it invites all the other wild jellyfish in and causes all sorts of problems.
* The ''[[Creator/{{Terrytoons}} Gandy Goose]]'' cartoon "The Exterminator" has Sourpuss calling the P.D.Q. Exterminating company to help stave off an invasion of mice in his home. They send Gandy, who is none too effective, which is lampshaded at the end: "2,000 years ago, Aesop said 'There are many ways to get rid of mice, but none of them are any good.'"
* On ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', Flecko escapes from Ed Bighead, and ends up at Rocko's house. Upon seeing how Rocko didn't squish a ladybug, he invites all the other bugs over.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' episode, "Sting Operation", a hornet's nest shows up at the entrance to the Central Park Zoo. The hornets sting the Penguins whenever they try to remove it, and they intend to sting the visiting children as well. When the Penguins discover that Mort [[DisabilityImmunity is too stupid to recognize when he is in pain]], they use one of Kowalski's inventions to become ignorant to pain themselves in order to remove the nest.

* ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp'': The main villain of the movie is a particularly nasty rat skulking around Lady's house. Near the end, it gets inside and menaces Jim Dear and Darling's baby. Tramp kills the rat, and, after Lady clears his name, earns his place in the family home.
* Subverted in ''Disney/TheRescuers'': Madame Medusa is [[EekAMouse scared of mice]], so she sends her two crocodiles, Brutus and Nero, to catch the Rescuers, Bernard and Bianca, when the pair of [[NiceMice heroic mice]] come aboard Medusa's wrecked boat to rescue kidnapped little girl Penny.